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Manuel Pellegrini will have to name his squad without Vincent Kompany when he takes his side to Borussia Monchengladbach in an attempt to overcome the consequences of the defeat to Juventus in their Champions League opener later tonight, but the Chilean manager denied citing the absence of his skipper for their recent dip.
The Citizens had been enjoying the cushion at the zenith of the Premier League table until their Belgian centre-back limped off the pitch against the Old Lady at Etihad Stadium, but their manager stated in the pre-match press conference that injuries to David Silva and Yaya Toure had also played an important role in their slight decline.
a Of course, Vincent is a very important player,a said the 62-year-old. a He is our captain and he has started the season very well, but I dona t think one player is so crucial. We won the last six games of last season without Vincent. I think the amount of injuries we have had has been more important. We have a strong squad, but not good enough to sustain 11 injuries.a
Manchester City have never been able to progress beyond the knockout stages of the Champions League, but he stated that they had been unlucky in drawing opponents and also put an accent on their winning record in the competition mentioning their results against Bayern Munich and Roma as examples.
a I dona t think we have failed in Europe. In the last two years, we have qualified for the next stage and then we lost against the best team in the world, Barcelona. Thata s why we know how to win in Europe. Thata s why we qualified for two seasons a we have beaten Bayern Munich twice.
a Last year, we were in a very complicated situation and we won our last two games against Roma away and Bayern Munich at home. We just lost a game against Juventus – maybe a strange game, but we lost it. Now we are trying again in the next five games to qualify for the next stage in Europe.a
With Arsenal slumping to another defeat, thereby all but confirming their exit from the tournament, result at Borussia Park tonight holds significant importance for English football fans as the Premier League are in the danger of losing a Champions League spot.